Chemistry

Fall '08

Summer '08

Chemistry 201

General Information and Documents

Fun Chemistry Links:

The Periodic Table of Videos
The Wooden Periodic Table Full of photographs of elements - this site is amazing. It all includes an article on the dishonesty of Brainiac when they produced videos of exploding alkali metals.
General Chemistry Online This incredible site won the 2004 Science and Technology Web Award from Scientific American. It is full of interesting and interactive information about chemistry.
RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry) - Advancing the Chemical Sciences. This is a wonderful website with an incredible amount of information and phenomenal visuals. The Chemistry World area is full of relevant stories about chemistry.
Sense About Science "Sense About Science is an independent charitable trust. We respond to the misrepresentation of science and scientific evidence on issues that matter to society, from scares about plastic bottles, fluoride and the MMR vaccine to controversies about genetic modification, stem cell research and radiation."
The Elements Song (flash).This animation is based on one of the most famous creations of Tom Lehrer, master of satire in the early 1950s. It is simply the elements of the periodic table sung to a "vaguely recognizable" tune.
Powers of Ten An interactive java tutorial - travel 10 million light years from the Earth then return and travel downward into the nucleus of a carbon atom.
The Fiery Flame Tube (wmv) See a song appear in flame.
Just Only Demos
Alkali Metals and Water (video) This video illustrates the relative reactivities of the alkali metals with water. The Brainiac version is fake.
Thermite (video) Watch thermite react at temperatures hot enough to melt an engine block.
Interactive Periodic Table An excellent reference with both data and images for the elements.
CHIME This program will allow you to visualize 3-D molecules and it's free to download and use.
The Chemistry of Chilli Peppers Ever wonder what makes 'em hot?
Chemical Heritage Foundation This organization "serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future".
Chemical Achievers Learn about the men and women who made chemistry history.
The Orbitron A gallery of atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals.
Wikipedia - Chemistry
Chemical of the Week Professor Shakhashiri has produced facts sheets about a collection of well known chemicals.
Online flash cards to learn common polyatomic ions
Flash cards for elements on the periodic table from the Jeffereson Lab
Mark Bishop's Chemistry Website Practically a complete chemistry textbook online with many animations, tutorials, and chime molecules.
Pigments through the Ages

Professor Walker's Recommended Supplemental Chemistry Reading List

The descriptions below are excerpts from descriptions found on Amazon

The Carbon Age: How Life's Core Element Has Become Civilization's Greatest Threat by Eric Roston The story of carbon—the building block of life that is, ironically, humanity’s great threat . It could be said that all of us are a little alien—our bodies’ carbon atoms first shot forth from supernovas billions of years ago and far, far away. Carbon has always been the ubiquitous architect and chemical scaffolding of life and civilization; indeed, all living things draw carbon from their environments to stay alive, and the great cycle by which carbon moves through organisms, ground, water, and atmosphere has long been a kind of global respiration system that helps keep Earth in balance. And yet, when we hear the word today, it is more often than not in a crisis context: carbon dioxide emissions have sped up the carbon cycle; chlorofluorocarbons are destroying the ozone layer and warming the planet; the volatile Middle East explodes atop its stores of volatile hydrocarbons; carbohydrates threaten obesity and diabetes. In The Carbon Age, Eric Roston evokes this essential element, its journey illuminating history from the Big Bang to modern civilization. Charting the science of carbon—how it was formed, how it came to Earth and built up—he chronicles the often surprising ways mankind has used it over centuries, and the growing catastrophe of the industrial era, leading us to now attempt to wrestle the Earth’s geochemical cycle back from the brink. Blending the latest science with original reporting, Roston makes us aware, as never before, of the seminal impact carbon has, and has had, on our lives.
The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison by John Emsley Emsley traces the evolution of alchemy and explains the central role that the quest to turn metal into gold plays in the history of poison, pausing along the way to note that Isaac Newton's obsession with alchemy may have contributed to his madness. Later chapters discuss the history, uses, and murderous abuses of mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead, and thallium.
Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy by John Emsley You are standing in the supermarket holding two bottles of sunscreen. One claims to have titanium dioxide, the other something called OMC. What are these mysterious chemicals and which works better? Enter Emsley, Cambridge University science writer in residence, who demystifies the benefits of chemistry from a catalogue of over 30 chemicals that we encounter every day. His subjects jump from lipstick and sunscreen to trans-fats and vitamin C, bleach, Prozac, baby diapers and Viagra (hence the third V of the title). Emsley includes the sources and uses of all the chemicals, which can read like encyclopedia entries, as well as histories of each chemical's discovery and occasional misuses. To this he adds a few morality tales of chemical witch-hunts in the media, such as the unsubstantiated accusation that aluminum causes Alzheimer's. The book can be read cover to cover or used as a reference, but either way, even chemists will find out some surprising facts, such as that scurvy was for a time treated with sulfuric acid.
The Joy of Chemistry: The Amazing Science of Familiar Things by Cathy Cobb Discover the fun and fascination of chemistry through hands-on demonstrations For many, chemistry is perceived as a burdensome affair, weighed down with mathematics and restricted to well-guarded research facilities. While these facets of chemistry are certainly of paramount importance, laboratories and calculators do not necessarily convey the inherent beauty of chemistry or the excitement of chemistry at work. This book challenges the perception of chemistry as too difficult to bother with and too clinical to be any fun. Cathy Cobb and Monty L. Fetterolf, both professional chemists and experienced educators, introduce readers to the magic, elegance, and, yes, joy of chemistry. From the fascination of fall foliage and fireworks, to the functioning of smoke detectors and computers, to the fundamentals of digestion (as when good pizza goes bad!), the authors illustrate the concepts of chemistry in terms of everyday experience, using familiar materials.
The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday (available free online) The greatest experimental scientist Michael Faraday delivered these six lectures at London's Royal Institution. Their subjects include the components, function, and weight of the atmosphere; capillary attraction; the carbon content in oxygen and living bodies; respiration and its analogy to the burning of a candle; and much more. Numerous illustrations.